PGW(Gm)78(CAE)

Welsh National and Universal Mining Disaster Memorial Garden, Senghenydd  

II  

12/03/2024  

Designated  

Caerphilly  

Aber Valley  

 

 

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Memorial garden.  

2013  

The Welsh National and Universal Mining Disaster Memorial Garden is registered for its significance as a memorial garden dedicated to all those who have lost their lives in colliery disasters in Wales. The garden holds strong historical associations and communal value for being situated on the site of the worst disaster in the history of British mining and for having an important role in connecting people with the past. It is an important site of public commemoration and memory. Site Description: History The garden is situated on part of the former Universal Colliery site in Senghenydd, near Caerphilly. Senghenydd developed rapidly at the end of the nineteenth century because of the coal industry and the opening of the Universal Colliery in 1893. The Universal huts were built to accommodate the workers as were rows of terrace houses including Stanley Street and Grove Terrace, located just south of the colliery (see 2nd edition Ordnance Survey, 1901). The Universal Colliery was in operation between 1893 and 1928. It was owned by the Lewis Merthyr Consolidated Collieries Ltd and Mr Edward Shaw was the mine manager. The shell of the former two-storey office building still stands to the north of the memorial garden on the road out of Senghenydd (NPRN 410286). The project for a national mining memorial was developed by the Aber Valley Heritage Group, working closely with Caerphilly CBC. The memorial garden was opened in 2013 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Universal Colliery mining disaster, which occurred on 14th October 1913. 439 men and boys were killed in the accident. Following the inquiry into the causes of the disaster, the pit manager was prosecuted for non-compliance with the Coal Mines Act and fined £24 and £10 costs, equivalent to 1/1 ¼ d for every man who lost his life, as reported in the Merthyr Pioneer on 25th July 1914 ‘Miner’s Lives at 1/1 ¼ each’. A previous accident in 1901 had killed 81 men. Garden Description The garden layout and planting scheme was designed by landscape architect, Stephanie Wilkins, and its construction was undertaken by contractor Alun Griffiths Ltd on behalf of the Aber Valley Heritage Group and Caerphilly CBC. The small garden measures approximately 43m x 54m. The design consists of an inter-laced circle and square set within the garden area. The intention of the design was to ensure the space reflects and feels part of the local and wider community. To achieve this, local materials and styles were used, including sandstone from Gwrhyd quarry, lime and coal mortar. The lime mortar contained coal and brick dust and the colour was matched to locally used mortar. The design included a boundary hedge of beech, hornbeam, hawthorn and yew to give privacy but to be kept at a height to ensure the garden remains overlooked. The hedge was to be undulating, to bring the mountain silhouettes into the site. The full length of the proposed boundary hedge does not appear to have been planted. A Wall of Remembrance forms a square walled garden with central openings on each side and planted borders in each internal corner. The stone walls with brick quoins mirror the construction materials of the surrounding rows of mine worker’s terraced houses. The wall is dedicated to the two Universal Colliery disasters of 1901 and 1913. 521 individual clay tiles are dedicated with name, age, and place of residence of each person killed in the two disasters. The tiles were handmade by local volunteers and children in community workshops led by ceramic artists Ned Heywood and Julia Land from Chepstow. There are also memorial tiles to David G. Parry (1931-2009) who researched and compiled the list of victims of the 1901 disaster, and J. Basil Phillips (1917-1999) who researched and compiled the list of victims of the 1913 disaster. Titled ‘The Rescue’ a life-size bronze statue of a miner leading another to safety stands on a plinth as the centrepiece of the square garden. The statue is the work of figurative sculptor Les Johnson. It is dedicated to all those who lost their lives in Welsh mining disasters and was unveiled on 14th October 2013 by Roy Noble O.B.E (patron) and Jack Humphreys (chair) of the Aber Valley Heritage Group. The walled garden borders are planted with flowering perennials, Achillea and Echinacea, and grasses, Korean feather reed grass (Calamagrostis brachytricha). Giant oats (Stipa gigantean) and ‘Ponytails’ (Nassella tenuissima) represent the pit horses. The pin cushion flowers of Knautia Macedonia represent the inquiry map where bodies were shown by a dot. Vivid autumn tree colour provides a backdrop to the central statue and is at its best around the time of the October anniversary of the Senghenydd disaster. Planting includes Acer pseudoplantanus ‘Brilliantissimum’, Cornus alternifolia ‘Argentea’, Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’, Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’ and Disanthus cercidifolius. Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) and wild daffodils, lent-lily (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) are planted around the trees and shrubs. A wooden sculpture by tree surgeon and sculptor Dai Edwards stands next to the north boundary fence of the garden. The sculpture ‘Waiting for News’ is an artistic representation of a photograph taken by W. Benton, titled Welsh Pit Disaster. A little mother waiting for news, which depicts thirteen-year-old Agnes May Webber holding her baby sister Gwyneth Webber at the time of the 1913 disaster. W. Benton had a photography studio in George Street, Glasgow. He specialised in recording disasters and photographed the scenes at Senghenydd publishing them as a series of 25 postcards. The outer garden is planted with native heather (Calluna vulgaris) and grows either side of the Path of Memory. Large rocks placed amongst the heather reflect the rocky crags of the local upland landscape and provide a habitat for slow worms. A stone bench is situated next to a listening post, which relays the stories of local people affected by the Universal mining disaster. A circle forms the Path of Memory made of tiles dedicated to mining disasters across Wales. Made by ceramic artists Ned Heywood and Julia Land from Chepstow, each tile includes the colliery name, date of the disaster, number of people who lost their lives, and the tile sponsor. The Path of Memory’s circular design interlinks with the Senghenydd element. An arrangement of 59 tiles commemorates other individuals who lost their lives at the Universal Colliery Senghenydd. A pavior sponsored by the Aber Valley Heritage Group is dedicated to all those who worked in the coal industry in Wales and acts as a poignant reminder: ‘Men and boys coursed their life’s blood to carve the coal seamed klondikes into new communities, vibrant of spirit and searching of soul, they set up, from wage contributions, the cornerstones of society in their clubs, institutes, halls, libraries, hospitals and chapels in the constant quest for coal. Some paid the ultimate price, some in mind numbing disasters, others on their own and others in small groups. Gleision Colliery, with its loss of four men on September 15th 2011, revisited the memories of old, may they be the last fatalities listed on the long, long register of sacrifice.’